Avarada Communities
There is a central community in the actual city of Arvada. The Greater Arvada area has a current human population of 103,000. Nevertheless, there is ‘a highway loop’ which makes commuting a real possibility. Around the city there are what are known as the mountain communities.
Arvada was founded by immigrants who actually did find real gold there in 1850. This place has since grown, and in the more recent decades has become a suburb to Denver. Arvada is just NW of the Northern boundary of Denver. Here is a quote from the Historical Society’s website: Arvada Historical Society. We are located in Arvada, Colorado, on the northwest border of Denver, in Jefferson county Our history began when Lewis Ralston discovered gold here in 1850, at the confluence of an unnamed tributary of Clear Creek (now known as Ralston Creek) - the first documented gold strike in Colorado. By the early 1860s, the land was being farmed, watered by ditches essential to agriculture in our semi-arid region. Benjamin Wadsworth and Louis Reno platted the town, and Wadsworth established the first post office in 1870. Agriculture was the mainstay of the town, which at one time was renowned as the "Celery Capital of the World."
In a continuing effort to ‘be golden’ Arvada now has several planned communities and offers unusual benefits such as open public informal luncheons with the local Mayor. Apologies if you were hoping to find the Mayor at a pricey restaurant this time: you have your chance to visit while attending a Middle School cafeteria. As a practicing Mom, I’ve visited school cafeterias many times, but you’re right that it doesn’t give you the same kind of feeling as a ‘black tie affair’.
Three examples of these ‘developer designed intentional communities’ are Westwoods Ridge, Fieldstone and Wyndham Park. The most obvious feature of all homes in Colorado is that they offer the Rocky Mountain feel and vistas. Naturally the planned communities are designed to make the most of this most natural legitimate sales point- incredible natural beauty.
Beyond that, most of the glory is in the design itself. Westwoods Ridge prides itself on exclusivity and uniqueness. The intention, however, is that once ‘in’ you and your family are really ‘in’. The developers have gone out of their way to provide you with all your needs, from nature walks and clubs to a delightful and thorough sense of belonging.
Wyndham Park is another midscale self contained community. This is a very middle class area, but not the lower middle class. Very posh compared with the bottom and extremely modest compared to the splendour of estates or the $Million dollar homes, Wyndham strives to be a ‘little gentrified village within itself.’ However, unlike in Westwood Ridge, this one isn’t “the Club”; this one has a YMCA named after a woman, which tells you a lot in itself. This is almost like saying “Sarah Mills Freemason’s Lodge’. If you feel that Arvada intends to be progressive; you are sensing that correctly.
People react differently to development communities, mainly based on whether or not will cause them to feel rejected and left out or accepted and in. Arvada is able to function like a suburb and like it’s own small city.